1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to archery bows and, more particularly, to a retractable arrow rest device used in such bows, which moves clear of an arrow upon its release from the bow string, thereby preventing deflection of the arrow caused by contact of the feathers, or fletching on the arrow, with the arrow rest or the handle of the bow.
2. Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 2,975,780, issued to Fisher on Mar. 21, 1961, discloses a disappearing arrow rest, which is attached to a string connected to one end of a bow. The string exerts a tension on the arrow rest to move it out of an arrow-supporting position unless the bow is drawn. In this arrangement, the arrow rest cannot be positioned to hold an arrow until the bow is drawn, and the timing cannot be controlled.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,504,659, issued to Babington on Apr. 7, 1970, discloses an arrow rest which is held in an upright position by the tension of an elastic band attached to a drawn bow string and which pivots out of the path of the arrow. Rudimentary timing is achieved by varying the length of the elastic band. In this arrangement, the arrow rest cannot be positioned for holding the arrow until the bow is drawn.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,287,868, issued to Schiff on Sep. 8, 1981, discloses an arrow rest which is held in an upright position by a ball detent mechanism; it is pulled down, out of the path of an arrow, by the force of a cable attached to a counterweighted lever arm attached to one end of the bow; the lever arm is pivoted by inertia from the forward movement of one end of the bow upon release of the arrow. Rudimentary timing is achieved by varying the length of the pivoting lever arm on which the weight is attached. While the arrow rest can be positioned for holding the arrow whether or not the bow is drawn, the lever arm must be cocked; once cocked, it is easily dislodged from the detent mechanism. Also, the timing of the arrow rest release can not be controlled precisely and is very limited in range.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,492, issued to Savage on Feb. 13, 1996, discloses an invention similar in function to Babington supra, except the elastic band is attached to the secondary string mechanism of a compound bow rather than the primary bow string. It therefore shares the same limitations.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,136, issued to Tone on Apr. 2, 1996, discloses an arrow rest which is pulled out of the path of the fletching by a magnetic force after the column flexure of the arrow has caused it to bow away from the arrow rest. Newly-developed arrows frequently have little or no column flexure after release, as flexure affects accuracy. The rest disclosed not only requires flexure for successful performance, but also relies on the flexure's occurring in a plane parallel to the bow string. Column flexure, however, is both undesirable and, when it occurs, uncontrollable.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an arrow rest which can be positioned to support an arrow firmly without causing tension on the bow.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an arrow rest which moves out of the path of the fletching of a released arrow.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a horizontally-retracting arrow rest which is responsive to the forward movement of the bow string.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a retracting arrow rest, the movement of which can be adjusted precisely to control timing.